The Luka Doncic trade remains an unbelievable calamity. The Dallas Mavericks gave up on a franchise superstar at 25 years old, despite just coming off a run to the NBA Finals, and gave him to the Los Angeles Lakers basically for free.

To absolutely nobody's surprise, the Dallas Mavericks drafted Cooper Flagg with the number one overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft. And how could they not have?

Flagg scored 31 points in his second start and looked more comfortable as the Mavericks' primary ball-handler. Dallas shut him down for the rest of the summer slate after his scoring outburst was the most by a No. 1 pick in summer league play since John Wall in 2010.

Maxwell Lewis’ near-perfect shooting effort and a suffocating defensive performance spearheaded the Dallas Mavericks’ comfortable 92-69 win over the Orlando Magic in an NBA 2K26 Summer League consolation game at Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas on Friday.

In fact, "there were whispers in league circles about LeBron James having eyes for Dallas," Hollinger reports. But the four-time NBA MVP was not willing to pass on $52.6 million with the Lakers for a non-taxpayer mid-level exception to sign.

A ccording to an NBA insider, star forward LeBron James was interested in joining the Dallas Mavericks to team up with former teammates Kyrie Irving and Anthony Davis. James opted into the final year of his contract with the Los Angeles Lakers during the NBA offseason,

LeBron James is staying with the Los Angeles Lakers at least for now. The four-time NBA champion picked up his $52.6 million player option to return to the Lakers for an eighth season, which marks his longest continuous stint with any team in his career.